'Mental Strength' powers LIVE careers event

Friday, 22 Nov 2019

Work and wellbeing of young people topped the agenda at WorldSkills UK LIVE today (Friday, November 22nd) the UK’s most important vocational event.

More than 80,000 young people have pre-registered for the event and more than 2,000 attended The Million Minds Tour – with influencers, experts and coaches passing on tips and techniques to improve mental strength and wellbeing. British grime and hip-hop rapper, singer and producer Lady Leshurr from Solihull were among those that provided the live entertainment.

WorldSkills UK LIVE, the UK’s biggest vocational gateway-to-work event is dedicated to finding young people jobs, apprenticeships and training courses – whilst giving them the mental strength and resilience to flourish to the full.

Ben Blackledge, Deputy CEO of WorldSkills UK said: “This year we have made Mental Strength a key theme of LIVE as we believe this is a key element of helping young people, from all backgrounds, succeed in work and life.

“We want to give young people an inspirational insight into what their future career could be, however just as important is helping them understand the steps they need to take at work and in training to support them in looking after their well-being and manage the pressures they face.”

Mental Health charities, organisations and experts are also at WorldSkills UK LIVE to pass on best practice, helpful hints and practical advice to young people, parents and teachers about how to tackle mental health issues in school and the workplace.

Tomorrow (Saturday 23rd November) WorldSkills UK will host a mental strength panel chaired by TV host Will Best. The panel will feature: mental health campaigner Jonny Benjamin, podcaster Bilal Harry Khan, Hannah Zeezam and representatives from The Mix, a charity which provides support services for under 25s, who will share their top tips and answer questions from the audience about health and wellbeing.

The LIVE event is also the backdrop for the all-important National Finals of WorldSkills UK’s Competitions. More than 500 apprentices and students will compete in over 70 different disciplines – battling to be the best in the UK and hoping to secure the opportunity to compete to represent the UK at the WorldSkills Finals, known as the ‘skills Olympics’ in Shanghai in 2021.

Throughout LIVE, WorldSkills UK will be sharing its top tips from its international medal-winning mental strength competition training programme. This is used to train its elite team of young women and men who excelled in this summer’s ‘skills Olympics’ in Russia to help young people prepare for the challenges of work.